Abstract

Service users often say that the traits they most value in social workers are their ability to be non-judgmental, their listening skills and their sense of fairness: their strong ethical value base. But how can social workers ensure the decisions they make are ethically sound?

This book offers guidelines to negotiating ethical dilemmas in various social work settings; from direct care work with individual service users to working within organisational and multidisciplinary contexts. It provides social workers with useful frameworks within which to re-visit their personal value base and enable more reflective, and therefore more effective, practice. Case studies and questionnaire style chapters encourage reassessment of values including views on abortion, female genital mutilation, drug and alcohol misuse and homosexuality. By assessing a range of dilemmas at both personal and organisational levels, this book offers the tools and resources to enable professionals and students to self-manage and develop their practice.

This book is essential reading for social work students, practitioners, managers, practice teachers and assessors, and trainers, as well as those in allied professions.

A book on social work values and ethics is always important, especially at a time when the profession is dominated by a managerialist approach that follows the current free market consensus. All too often managers control what social workers do and how they do it by ensuring that overly prescriptive targets and procedures are adhered to. Such "practice" does not reflect the creativity and critical thinking that is essential for good social work. This book addresses such issues in a clear manner and is welcome for that.
Professional Social Work
Farrukh Akhtar is an independent social worker with over 20 years of experience in the field. She is also a senior lecturer in social work at Kingston University, UK, where she teaches Applied Professional Ethics.
This book presents in a very readable and practical format an introduction to values and ethics across the professional lifespan and taking account of organizational contexts. It will be of particular value to new social work students meeting the new requirements (Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Standards of Proficiency/Code of Conduct, Performance and Ethics, and The College of Social Work's Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF)). It will also be relevant to practitioners looking for material to assist them with reflections on practice as they prepare for re-registration with the new regulator (HCPC) and think about their careers in relation to the PCF.
Professor Hilary Tompsett, Kingston University and St George's, University of London, UK
‘I’m delighted to see a series that is accessible and that deals with the knowledge and skills needed to work creatively with the everyday concerns and complex issues encountered in direct social work practice. This series offers indispensable coverage of key issues.’
Pamela Trevithick, Visiting Professor in Social Work, Buckinghamshire New University, UK
This is a good introduction to the history of ethical thought.
Carolyn Noble, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
China Journal of Social Work